Apparatus for cleaning and opening fragile fibers



June 29, 1954 E. H. NovoTNY ET AL APPARATUS FOR CLEANING AND OPENING FRAGILE FIBERS Filed Sept. 24. 1949 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTORS l.fa/.wv f77/Varoma ,65E /J/ ,Vf-offs.

A TORNEY .SrLl

June 29, 1954 E. H. NovoTNY ET AL APPARATUS FOR CLEANING AND OPENING FRAGILE FIBERS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 24, 1949 I INVENToRs b/fa/v AVM/anw. ff M 0555, BW TORNE Patented June 29, 1954 UNITED STATE;`

T t? FIC APPARATUS FIOR CLEANING AND OPENING FRAGILE FIBER/S York Application September 24, 1949, Serial No. 117,558

The instant invention relates to a process and apparatus for cleaning, opening and collecting fibers, and particularly to a process and apparatus applicable to relatively brittle, inorganicY fibers, such .as mineral wool fibers, as Welles Couventional .textile fibers and mixtures of such bers With'mineral Wool fibers.

The standard practice employedin the mineral wool field is to direct thel fibers as they are formed into a collection chamber, lthe bers being car.- ried in an air suspension from which they settle onto a conveyor forming the floor `of the chamber. Where a bonded product is desired, vthe binder in nely divided Vforni is distributedinthe suspension to become intermingled with the collected fibers. The fibrous felt thus formed is then carried .directly to the finishing operations Where it. is converted into batte, blankets. or nodules, as the ,case maybe, or packaged as loose Wool,

An inherent disadvantage of these operations is that during the formation ofthe wool, a substantial quantityrof unberized particles, termed shot is also formed which becomes .intermixed with the fibers to provide an undesirably high content of such unberizedmaterial in the felt' and which is carried into the final product. Nue merousattempts havebeen made toeliminate, orat least reduce the amount of .the uniiberized particles but. these attempts, atleast for the most part, have not. .met with any great detail of success.

It has also been recognized that' numerous Vtypes of textile ber cleaning equipment are available, but these have not beenconsdered appropriate for use on mineral Wool and similar fibers, due to the relatively rough treatment to .which the fibers are subjected and which causesmineral wood bers to be broken ondestroyed.

A principal object' ofthe instant invention is the provision of a. method. and apparatus for opening and cleaning fibers to remove'the preponderant proportion of the unberized particles and dirt therefrom, the methodand apparatus embodying modifications of known textile cleaning operations in combination with a collection systeniby which the fibers, continuously with the cleaning operation, are collected in the form of alight, fiuiiy, low-density felted lay-er or web.

Another object of the invention is the provision of such method and apparatus which may be ernployed with different typesof fibers, but which 1s specifically adapted to fragile, brittle bers of the .type of mineral Wool, `either alone orin conjunction with,.other fibers. -A vfurtherobjectV of. the invention is the provision of such method and 6 Claims. (Cl. 153-75) apparatuswhich, when employed with a mixture of more than one type of fibers, will produce a substantially uniform distribution of the different fibers inthe felted product.

The foregoing objects are attained by.. our method and .apparatus which provide for the treatment of entangled. masses of fibers, such as mineral wool fibers, or of such fibers, together with masses of other fibers, by relatively gentle fiber opening and cleaning operations Which separate the brous masses into substantially individualized fibers and remove the bulk of shot or other unberized particlesfromthe fibers While, atthe same time maintaining vbreakage of the fibers-at a minimum. The cleaned and opened fibers are carried continuously andas a suspension in the airstream Which conveyed them through a part of the cleaningand openingsystem, into a collection chamber or tower Where the fibers are subjected to a nal opening operation and. are deposited `bya` relatively slowly moving air current onto a collecting surface, preferably a .movingconveyor.. The fibers gather on the conveyor in the form .of a relatively uniform, felted layer. If diiferent types of fibers are .to be employed, an intermixture of masses ofthe fibers arefed into the system, the fibers becoming individualiaed and substantially uniformly intermixed as they travel through the system, with the result that a homogeneous .felt is obtained. The feltedlayer may be built up to a thickness that it may be .used alone to form the final product, or a relatively thin layer may be produced which is converted into a bodyor blanket of the desired thickness by conventional lappers, or the like. Where a bonded product is desired, a binder, suitably in powdered form,.is. intermixed with the fibers at anysuitablepoint up to the actual ber collecting or felting.. operation to .become distributedin the felted layer.

Afurther object of the invention is the provisionof. such method and apparatus in whichthe fibers, at` the time of their collection, are in a zone of substantially Zero static pressure, Whereby the nbers are lightly felted into a lowndensity, lofty layer Vor web. This is accomplished by employing a relatively low velocity air current to carry the bers Vto the felting conveyor `and. by maintaining a zone-of negative pressure below the conveyor, only suflicient to assure deposit of the bers thereon.

-A still further .object ofthe .invention isthe provision of .thestep Yof and means` for imparting. adhesive :characteristicstto the fibers after they have been cleaned and opened but before the felting operation to improve the handleability of the felt for subsequent finishing operations antecedent to any binder setting step.

Our invention will be more fully understood and further objects and advantages thereof will become apparent when reference is made to the more detailed description thereof which is to follow and to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. la` is a diagrammatic elevational view, with parts in section, of a portion of the apparatus employed in the instant invention for carrying out the method thereof;

Fig. lb is a diagrammatic elevational view, with parts in section, of the remainder of the apparatus;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view on an enlarged scale, taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. la;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view, taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1b; and,

Fig. 4 is a sectional view, taken on the line 4 4 of Fig. 1b.

Referring now to the drawings, equipment for carrying out the method of the instant invention includes some modied conventional apparatus and specially designed apparatus, all in novel combination. The cleaning and opening section of the equipment is illustrated for the most part in Fig. la and includes a hopper IU adapted to receive bunches or masses of the iibers to be processed, such fibrous masses normally including unberized particles, such as shot, dirt, and the like. The bottom of the hopper is formed as a continuously moving conveyor I2 traveling in the direction indicated by the arrow to carry the fibrous material forward to conveyor I6 traveling in the direction indicated by the arrow and having a succession of flights I8. Flights i3 consist of laterally attached wooden slats with pins so arranged that their points are set to be inclined toward the direction of travel. The pins gather the ber clumps and carry them upward to a leveling device 2G. The leveling device 20 comprises a paddle roll, rotated in the direction indicated by the arrow, and is located adjacent the upper end of conveyor I6 to remove excess material carried by the conveyor and insure uniform delivery of the iibrous material. The fibrous material is removed from conveyor I6 by spike roll 22. A dirt box 24 having an openwork upper wall 26 is preferably placed under roll 22.

A conveyor 28 driven in the direction indicated by the arrow, is positioned to receive the material discharged by the spike roll and deliver it to coacting corrugated feed rolls 35i, which feed the fibrous material into a spike cylinder 32. latter includes a lower or bottom wall 34 of openwork or perforate construction and a spike or picker roll 3S suitably comprising a drum 38 having a plurality of radially extending spikes dll. Perforate wall 34 oveilies a dirt or shot box 42.

A duct 44 leads from the spike cylinder to a condensing drum 46, the latter having an openwork or screen mesh surface. A suction box 48 is located within the drum, the mouth of the suction box being coextensive with the end of conduit 44. Suction box 48 is connected by a duct 5i]A to any suitable air-withdrawal means (not shown). The lower wall of duct 44 terminates a short distance from the surface of drum 46 to provide an exit passage for the material collected on the drum, this exit being yieldably closed by a seal roll 52 pivotally supported for movement toward and away from the drum, and suitably weighted as at 54 to maintain contact with the layer of material on the drum. The above de- The scribed condensing drum varies somewhat from a standard textile condenser but is similar in principle and may be replaced by the same.

A hopper 56 is located below the condensing drum to receive the material discharged thereby, the bottom of the hopper being closed by a rotary valve 58 adapted to be driven at a controlled speed. Valve 58 discharges into a conduit 68 leading from the pressure side of a fan or blower 62 to a cleaning trunk indicated generally at 64. The cleaning trunk consists of a plurality of similar sections, each including vertical runs 66, preferably rectangular in cross-section, as shown in Fig. 2, connected at their opposite ends by return bends 68 and 10 of similar cross-section. The lower return bends have outer walls overlying dirt boxes 12 and formed of screen wire of, say, 3 to 6 mesh, to allow nonfibrous material and dirt to pass therethrough without, at the same time, causing entanglement of the bers. Each of the runs is provided with rows of vibratory ngers 14, alternately projecting from the opposite walls of the run and sloping in the direction of travel of the material through the run. The fingers of each row are relatively closely spaced, say at 1l intervals. A pair of spike rolls i6 is mounted for rotation in the direction indicated by the arrows, in the return bend at the entrance to the trunk, to avoid clogging at this point. A conduit 18 leads from the cleaning trunk to a fiber collection chamber.

The iiber collection chamber (see particularly Fig. 1b) and its operations constitute an integral part of applicants apparatus and method combination but, at the same time, are of utility in other circumstances and accordingly have been described and claimed per se in applicants copending application led of even date herewith. The collection chamber comprises a tower having an upper section of relatively restricted crosssection (see Fig. 3) and bottom section 82 of relatively enlarged cross-section and having outwardly flaring side walls (see Fig. 4) Conduit 18 is connected into the upper wall of the tower adjacent one side wall, as illustrated. Cooperating card rolls 84, driven in the directions indicated by the arrows, are located within the upper section 80 below the exit end of conduit 18, the card rolls closing off a portion of the area of the section 8D to passage of the fibers, except between the card rolls. Substantially the remainder of the area is closed off to the passage of iibers by a perforated or otherwise air-pervious cylinder 86 driven in the direction indicated by the arrow.

The floor of the collection chamber is formed by a conveyor 88 of foraminous or open-Work, air-pervious construction, the conveyor being driven in the direction indicated by the arrow to carry the bers deposited thereon through an exit port 90. A suction box 92 is located below the upper reach of conveyor 88, the suction box being connected to the exhaust side of a fan or blower 94.

Devices for handling the continuous felt or web formed on conveyor B8 are located adjacent the forward end of the conveyor, these taking any suitable form. in the construction illustrated, the handling devices include a lapper 9S of conventional design adapted to lay the web in a plurality of successive folds laterally of a continuously driven conveyor S8.

No drives for the several rolls, conveyors and other moving parts have been shown, but it will be appreciatedfthat: these maybe of any conven. tional type -toal-lowcontrol of the relative speeds of ,movementof the several parts.

Equipment .is provided for applying binders and adhesives tothe fibers at suitable points after the ber cleaning operation. For example, as illustratedfin Fig.- 1b,a pipe .Ello connected-to a supply of a dry powder (not shown) enters the collection. chamber and has a discharge end or nozzlelocated substantially atthe place of entryof the bers .to direct the binder ldownwardly into thelfibers movingito the card rolls. However, the. binder. maybeintroduced at an earlier point` in conduit-18,. or below the card-rolls bif desired. An adhesive, in addition to` orv` in lieu of the binder, is .alsopreferably distributed on the fibers and for this .purpose .a sprayhead connected by a pipeld to any suitable sourceof adhesive supply (not. shown), is mounted adjacent the wall of the collection chamber-,and substantially above theloor thereof to project aspray of the adhesive into. the suspensionofiibers as they are carried toward conveyor t3.

In the operation. of the apparatus, described above and in carrying out the .method ofthe in.n stant invention, the fibrous masses tov be. treated are depositedin hopper lil. The fibers may be oi any suitable type but. as previously pointed out, the apparatusand method are particularly applicableto relatively fragile fibers, such as mineral woolbers, which cannotwithsta-nd the conventional openings and cleaning operations of cards, garnetts, and the like. Also, where an end product is desiredcomprising. an interrnixture of two dilerent types of bers such,.for example, es organic bers interrnixed. with mineral wool bers, theniaterial deposited in the hopper may constitute a mixture of. masses of such fibers.

The nbrous masses are Vvolunietrically metered by the feeder vtoconveyor iii and thence-are fed into the passageway between perforate wall 34 and the spikes of the spike or picker rollsdwhere they arecombed and partially disentangledandunberizedparticles and dirt are dischargedinto dirt box 42. The fibers are .then picked up by the airstream .created in conduit. dfi and carried. against the suriace of roll it under the force of.

the ,airstreain to form a condensed layer lthere-- on which is lcarried by the roll past theedge of the suction box and seal .roll 52 and discharged intohopper 5S. Rotary valve ,55 discharges .the partiallyopened fibrous` masses at a-predetermined rate into conduit @il leadingtothe cleaning trunk The ber'rnasses delivered by the rotary valve are carried through the cleaning trunk at a velocity in the range of 2,000 to 3,00() ft./xnin. by the positive airstream set up by blower Git- During their passage they are combed and .opened by contact with ngers lf!- and, at the same time uniiberized particles, dirt and the like. are disohargefl thereirom to fall to the bottoms. of the trunk sections .and into dirtboxes 'l2'through the screen. meshrorning theouter walls at lthese points. The airstream continues into conduit i3 andcarries .the cleaned and substantially opened fibers therewith and discharges them into the upper end of the collection cha-ni-` beror tower above card rollsii.

The liber-s enter-"ing,the4 collection chamber Vare carried onto the card rolls be and pass therebetween for a inal opening and ber individualizing operation. The airstrearn entering with the fibers passes through the perforate wall of cylinder t5 and into the collection chamber to form an air current nowing past and beyond the card rolls at a greatly reduced velocity, due to the greater lcross,-sectional. area -othe vcollection chamber. as compared tto fduct 13, in which; the fibers' discharged bythe vcard-rolls are suspended. Theair current, decreasing invelocity as-it approa-chesv conveyor 8S( due: to the Iincreased crosssectional area of the .lower-section oithecollectionchamber, carries' the -iibers towardconveyor Ei'. Blowersl is: operated by controlling its speed or the volume -of air -withdrawnby it in amanner-to set up a suctionin suctiongbox 94 to create only `the `negative-pressure 4required .to overcome the resistanceof the passage'of air through the forming felt` An area ofpractically zero static pressure rlust abovetheconveyor-is thus obtained. This is of'primary-importance and-*serves several important unctions. It. eliminates the 'necessity of avseal roll-at exit port iid-due tothe equalized pressure withinand-without'the collection chame. ber. Also, and offprimary importance, the felted web is not compresedor disturbed .after-itis formed and, hence, is of very low density andgis ina loftystate. 'Ihelprocess Ahas been used-in making felted blankets of bulk densities as lowV asone-half pound per; cu.;ft; from conventionally manufactured mineral woolbers;

Where the-finished product is to containca binder, the unset bindenmaterial, preferably a powedered resin such as urea-formaldehyde, phenol-formaldehyde:or-other r-esinous; or binding material of either the thermopalstic or.

thermosetting type, mayfbeintroducedinto the suspension at any v'point after theber cleaning. stage. Preferably the powdered binder is ,introe duced at the upper endxoig the'collection :chamber through conduit .l llc whereby it becomes intimately intermixed with; the suspensonof bers and is uniformly distributedin ,thefeltedlayer collected on the conveyor S8.

In accordance Vwith the preferredpracti'ce of therinvention, an Aadhesive material is alsoapplied to the viibers in xthe. suspension before the collection.l The adhesive-may be of different types butv it has-been ioundpreferable to use a glycerine SOlutiOmiiQr-eXai/nple a 10%' glycerine water solution;A llheipurposeof this addition is to'impart suficient cohesionto the bers to impart the necessary'zuncured felt bond to enable the vlightweight"felted -web :to .be .lapped and subjected to other `iinisioing operations .prior to the setting of the binden This adhesive lmustv be ofl such a naturefasxtosinot interfere with the cure of the binder,-and must'not. be so stickyas to cause undue .adherence ofthe iibers to the forming. chamber Awalls.orf-to the `forming conveyor. The glycerine solutionimentioned.above hasibeen found to be ideal-fior :this purpose.

Conveyor ifrnaybedriven at a slow .speed to build up arlayer ofsueient; thickness to produce-the nal product.Y However, it .isfusually found preferable to drive-the conveyor at a higher-speedtoforni arelatively thin, lofty felt and buildup-the feltrinto ablanket of the desired.

thicknessby.- a flapping` operation. For this .purpose` -therelat-ively Athin felt is delivered to the lapperf. conveyor.- and laid insuccessive` folds f transversely of conveyors@ In either case, that is Whetherxthe llayer .isi built up .tov the desired thickness,onconveyorilt .or is lapped to provide ablanketfof thedesired.thicknessy the blanket may gbe. vsubjected.tofany usual or conventional finishing operations to convert it into bonded batts or blankets or into loose wool, nodulated wool, and the like.

It will be appreciated from the above description of the method and apparatus that the instant invention provides for the cleaning and opening of mineral wool bers or other fibers, or mixtures of fibers, and their felting into lightweight, homogeneous products. Fibers of different types may be employed in any proportions to obtain products containing mixtures of fibers, 01' may be successively put through the machine. The apparatus is versatile in operation and can be adjusted, by controlling the relative rates of movement of the several cleaning elements and of the travel of the fibrous material therethrough, to remove little or the greater portion of the dirt and non-fibrous material, depending upon the type of product desired, and similarly may be adjusted to open fiber clumps or nodules to a greater or lesser degree, depending upon the quality and refinement desired for the nished product. The products obtained are of extremely low density, lightweight and uniformly felted. Due to the gentleness of the opening and cleaning action, the process is not excessively destructive to even relatively fragile and brittle fibers such as mineral wool. rlhe apparatus and method have the further advantage that their operation is not tied directly to the fiber production as is the case in conventional mineral Wool manufacture. That is, the mineral wool obtained from the blowchamber of the mineral wool producing apparatus may be stock piled until such time as the cleaning and felting operations are to be performed.

Having thus described our invention in rather full detail, it will be understood that these details need not be strictly adhered to, but that various changes and modifications may suggest themselves to one skilled in the art, all falling within the scope of the invention as defined by the subjoined claims.

What we claim is:

1. In an apparatus for cleaning, opening and felting entangled bers containing unberized particles, means for opening and disentangling the bers, a cleaning trunk defining an enclosed serpentine path, means for delivering the bers to the trunk, means for setting up an air current in said trunk to carry the fibers therethrough, a collection chamber, fiber opening means in said collection chamber, means for connecting said trunk and collection chamber to deliver said airstream and said iibers therein above said ber opening means, an air-pervious conveyor forming a hoor of said collection chamber, and airwthdrawal means below said conveyor.

2. In an apparatus ,for cleaning, opening and felting entangled fibers containing uniiberized particles, means for opening and disentangling the iibers, a cleaning trunk defining an enclosed serpentine path, means for delivering the fibers to the trunk, means for setting up an air current in said tank to carry the liners therethrough, a collection chamber, cooperating fiber opening rolls in said collection chamber, means for connecting said trunk and collection chamber to deliver said airstream and said bers therein to said collection chamber above said cooperating fiber opening rolls, an air-pervious conveyor forming a door of said collection chamber, and an air-withdrawal means below said conveyor.

3. In apparatus for cleaning, opening and felting entangled fibers containing uniiberized particles, means for opening and disentangling the bers, a cleaning trunk dening an enclosed serpentine path, means for delivering the fibers to the trunk, means within the trunk for further opening the fibers, means for setting up an air current in said trunk to carry the bers theren through, a collection chamber, fiber opening means in said collection chamber, means for connecting said trunk and collection chamber to deliver said air-stream and said bers therein above said fiber opening means, an air-pervious conveyor forming a floor of said collection chamber, and air withdrawal means below said conveyor.

4. In an apparatus for cleaning, opening and felting entangled iibers containing unfiberized particles, means for opening and disentangling the fibers, a cleaning trunk defining an enclosed serpentine path, means for delivering the fibers to the trunk, means within the trunk for further opening the bers, means for setting up an air current in said trunk to carry the fibers therethrough, a collection chamber, cooperating ber opening rolls in said collection chamber, means for connecting said trunk and collection chamber to deliver said airstream and said bers therein to said collection chamber above said cooperating ber opening rolls, an air-pervious conveyor forming a floor of said collection chamber, and an air withdrawal means below said conveyor.

5. An apparatus for opening, cleaning and felting entangled iibers containing unberized particles comprising, means for opening and disentangling the fibers, a cleaning trunk dening an enclosed serpentine path, means for delivering the fibers to the trunk, means for setting up an air current in said trunk to carry the fibers therethrough, a collection chamber, fiber opening means in said collection chamber, means for delivering said fibers to said collection chamber at a region thereof above said opening means, an air pervious conveyor forming a floor of said collection chamber, and air-withdrawal means below said conveyor.

6. An apparatus for opening, cleaning and felting entangled bers containing unberized particles comprising, means for opening and disentangling the fibers and dislodging unfiberized particles therefrom, a collection chamber having coacting ber-opening rolls therein, an air pervious conveyor below said fiber-opening rolls, means including air-current forming means for delivering the fibers to the chamber at a region above said liber-opening rolls, and air-withdrawal means below said conveyor.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 34,363 Hayden Feb. 1l, 1862 1,042,395 Cheesman Oct. 29, 1912 1,056,260 Cheesman Mar. 18, 1913 1,765,026 Miller June 17, 1930 1,825,167 Wilkinson Sept. 29, 1931 1,961,272 Williams June 5, 1934 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 2,276 Great Britain or" 1860 294,079 Germany Sept. 11, 1916 

